The prime minister, who is in intensive care with coronavirus complications, has repeatedly stressed people are not to socialise with those outside of their home.

Nearly a quarter (24%) of the King’s participants who believed the coronavirus was probably manufactured thought too much of a fuss is being made about the pandemic.

This is compared to one in 10 (10%) of those who believed the strain is natural.

Emerging at the end of last year, only the relatively small number of people worldwide who have encountered the virus are thought to have immunity against it.

The race is on to develop a vaccine that will enable herd immunity, allowing the public to safely go back to their normal routine.

The survey participants who thought a jab will be available within three months were nearly four times as likely to have met up with friends during the lockdown than those of the opinion a vaccine will take longer.

“People have generally got the message about how serious the threat from the virus is and the importance of the measures being required of them,” said study author Professor Bobby Duffy.

“But at a time when the government is warning it may bring in more severe restrictions if enough people don’t follow the rules, this research shows there is a significant minority who are unclear on what some of them are, as well as many who still misjudge the scale of the threat from coronavirus or believe false claims about it.

“And this matters – how we see current realities and the future is often related to how we strictly we follow the guidelines and our attitudes to the lockdown measures”.

A man wears a mask outside a closed electrical-goods shop in the centre of Munich. (Getty Images)

Coronavirus: Evidence it is not man-made

The coronavirus is thought to have emerged at a seafood and live animal market in the Chinese city Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, at the end of 2019.

The market is said to have sold a range of dead and alive animals, including bats, donkeys, poultry and hedgehogs.

Most of those who initially became unwell at the start of the outbreak worked at, or visited, the Wuhan market.

This has led scientists to believe the new coronavirus “jumped” from an animal into a human while the two were in close contact.

The coronavirus is one of seven strains of a class of viruses that are known to infect humans.

Another strain is severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), which killed 774 people during its 2002/3 outbreak.

Sars is thought to have started in bats and jumped into humans via masked palm civets.

Research suggests the new coronavirus shares more than 96% of its DNA with a strain detected in horseshoe bats and may have reached humans via pangolins.

Despite the evidence, conspiracy theories have arisen suggesting the strain could have been engineered.

They specifically looked at proteins on the surface of the viruses that allow them to enter human cells.

Results suggested the coronavirus evolved to target a receptor on human cells called ACE2.

This targeting is so effective, the scientists concluded it was the result of natural selection and not genetic engineering.

The coronavirus’ genetic “backbone” is also distinct from other pathogens. The scientists argued if one were to manufacture a disease, they would work off a backbone that is known to cause ill health.

“By comparing the available genome sequence data for known coronavirus strains, we can firmly determine that [the new strain] originated through natural processes,” said study author Dr Kristian Andersen.

A woman wears a mask while walking dogs in Palma, Spain. (Getty Images)